the dirt

If you came by the studio the past two weekends, you got a sneak peek at the progress on A Feast of Flowers, my public art project for the coastal rail trail. Two of the flower heads are finished and even got to experience their first rain. In the week in between Open Studios weekends, I’ve been working on the patina for the stems. I still have the four other flower heads to finish the patina surface on and then they will all be ready. The patina process is exhausting and exciting to see the acid change the surface of the galvanized metal instantly. I love the organic quality of the surface and the variety of reactions it has to the different areas on the metal.

If you missed seeing them at the studio, here’s a few pics of the progress… very excited to get these guys planted in the ground soon! Click here to learn more about A Feast of Flowers!

This project is sponsored by:

All of the Feast of Flowers parts came back safely and super shiny from the galvanizer last week and after a little bit of clean up work, I was able to get two of them coated in a brown patina. The patina process was new to me and a little nerve-wracking as they are acid based products to clean the surface and then patina the surface. I don’t have any pictures of it but I was fully suited up with all my protective gear and a good respirator. The cleaner and patina actually smoke and bubble when they are put on the surface of the metal and then need to be doused with water to stop the process. I created troughs with plastic sheeting in the studio to collect all that run off so it can be disposed of properly – which was also a source of stress through the process. The final coat is a water-based sealant that gave a little shine to the surface as well as protect the patina and is graffiti resistant.

After I got the studio cleaned up from looking like a haz-mat site, I got to work attaching the ceramic flowers to their metal flower heads. These two are taking up a huge chunk of the studio space right now, but I think they look great. Two down and only four more to go!

And if you come by this weekend for Open Studios, you can see them up close and in person, we’ll be rolling them outside the studio so you won’t be able to miss them!

This project is sponsored by: